Keys to the Universe
by Radiant Valkyrie
Summary: After revealing her haunter's existence to her superstitious mom, Stormie must flee to Sinnoh or be faced with having her haunter taken away. But things get a lot more complicated when a mysterious organization demands her to return something of theirs...


Don't be alarmed that at first pokemon can't speak and then suddenly they can. Don't want anyone getting confused here. And no, it doesn't mean the humans will be able to understand them. I just want to try out a story with talking pokemon because I think you can get into so much more depth with the pokemon characters when you can actually understand what they're saying...even when the human characters can't. This is mainly the reason why I am writing this; this is actually a redo of my earlier story _Stormy Days_. This one will have similar elements but have things changed along the way along with pokemon now being able to speak, of course.

Feel free to send in OC's. Yes, more than one if you want to. But please sent them to me through a message. They can be human or pokemon, good or bad. Do include name, gender, personality, bio, appearance, and anything else that you think would be helpful for me. I may or may not use them. I figure OC's could work as extra characters when/if I need them~

* * *

"Hey, look. It's that one girl."

"She's so creepy. I hope she's not coming this way."

"Oh great. She's heading over here. Let's split."

The group of teens dispersed, retreating into one of the town stores. The teenage girl that they were speaking of, Stormie, continued on her way without a glance. This was nothing unusual for her; in fact, she was used to it. Stormie was rather pale and thin, probably _too_ pale and thin. There were dark circles under her eyes, indicating that she hadn't been getting enough sleep. She wore a thick purple sweater with fur trimmed around the edge of the hood. It was definitely a little too warm for the current weather but Stormie seemed unaffected.

As she walked along, her shadow wavered slightly. Something about it seemed off about it but it was something that no one ever noticed. Unlike the other shadows on the street, Stormie's shadow seemed a little darker in color than rest.

* * *

**7 YEARS AGO**

"Up to your room! Now!"

"But I don't wanna!"

"Now, or you're going to be in even more trouble, Stormie Faust!"

The little girl's lip began to tremble in front of her mother. She was doing her best to hold back tears. She didn't do anything wrong! At least, being sent up to her room was unfair. Stormie could no longer hold it in and the tears began to fall from her eyes. She then let out a wail and stomped up to her room, slamming the door shut with all her might. Sharon, the mother, let out a weary sigh. Children could be so much trouble sometimes.

Stormie had collapsed on her bed, bawling her eyes out into her pillow. Her dark blue hair was draped over her face, hiding her in a veil from the outside world. After she felt like she had calmed down a bit, she sat up on her bed sniffling. Her violet eyes were still red and teary. She gazed out her window; it was dark outside. Over the tree line she could see the twinkling stars and the moon. She always liked living in Granzton on the little island of Tengu. Unlike Fierka, the island's port city, the lights didn't block out the stars at night.

As her thoughts were brought back to her mother, Stormie hugged her knees to her chest burying her face in them. Sharon was never fair to her. Moms could be so mean sometimes. As she sat there hugging her knees, Stormie started to feel a strange presence in her room. It was chilling; it felt like something was watching her. It sent a shudder down her spine. Maybe it was the monster in the closet or under her bed? But her lamplight was on! Monsters were supposed to be afraid of the light. That meant it couldn't be either of those monsters, right?

Suddenly, a purple creature floated through her wall into her room. The creature had sharp spines on its head and jagged teeth. It even had sharp claws but they were floating separate from the creature's body. It was a fearful sight. Stormie quickly pulled the covers over herself, cowering under them in fear. The monster couldn't get her under the covers, right?

"Haunt..." the creature said. It wasn't really a monster of any sort; it was a haunter. It glanced over the room as if it were searching for something but it didn't look like it spotted it. Instead, its eyes narrowed at the large lump in the bed sheets that concealed Stormie. It floated up to the bed, grabbed a hold of the sheets and pulled them off in one swift motion.

Stormie gasped in surprise. When she looked up, she saw the haunter staring her down intensely. It scared her; it could probably eat her whole if it wanted to. "P-Please don't eat me, Mr. Ghostie, I-I'm not that tasty, I p-promise!" she wailed. Once again the tears started flowing down her face.

The haunter stared at her silently for a moment, watching the girl cry her eyes out in fear of being eaten. It zoned out for a second before snapping back into reality. The haunter then frowned. Using its claws, it pulled on the sides of its mouth and stuck its tongue out to make a funny face at the girl. At the sight, Stormie began to quiet down. The haunter made another silly face. This one actually got a small giggle out of her. The haunter then made another. This time Stormie burst out laughing. The haunter's frown was now replaced with a grin, happy to have cheered the girl up. After waving goodbye to Stormie, he floated through the other side of the wall, disappearing from sight.

Stormie wiped the remainder of the tears from her eyes. The haunter had put her in a better mood; it wasn't that scary of a pokemon after all! She was disappointed to see it go and this was shown by the pout on her face. The haunter could have been her friend! Maybe even with his scary appearance he could scare away the bed and closet monsters. Stormie suddenly yawned. She was getting sleepy. Perhaps it was a good time to go to bed? She crawled underneath the covers and shut her eyes after turning off the light. She fell asleep wondering where the haunter had gone.

Stormie was sleeping peacefully and a couple of hours had gone by since she had first fallen asleep. She was dreaming of the haunter fighting off the monsters for Stormie. It definitely was a happier dream compared to the countless nightmares she had experienced in the past. Unfortunately, this rare night of peaceful sleep did not go uninterrupted. While still asleep, a chill went down her spine. Stormie's eyes shot open. It was the same feeling from before when the haunter appeared.

Soon enough a haunter floated into the darkness of Stormie's room. Stormie jumped out of bed with a large grin. It had returned! "Hi, Mr. Ghostie!" she greeted cheerfully.

She waited for the haunter to return her greeting. But all the haunter did was breathe raggedly, not responding at all. It shakily floated up to her, reaching towards her with a claw. Once it had come close enough, Stormie gasped in horror. She saw the wounds and blood covering the poor haunter and the pained expression on its face. With one last gasp, the haunter collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

Stormie rushed to the haunter's side. "Oh no, Mr. Ghostie! What happened to you?" She shook its side gently, urging it to wake up. The haunter didn't respond. Stormie was about to call for her mom but she stopped herself. What would Sharon do with the haunter? Stormie knew that Sharon wasn't a big fan of ghosts or pets. Stormie wanted to keep the haunter as a friend but she wasn't so sure that Sharon would let her. After considering the two options of either telling Sharon or keeping it a secret, she finally decided upon the first choice. "I'm going to move you to my closet, okay? Don't worry; I'll make you better in no time!"

Stormie looked over the haunter. It was rather big looking; she wasn't sure she could actually carry it but she had to at least try. She wrapped her arms around the haunter's body and heaved. To her surprise, the haunter was incredibly light which caused her to stumble back with all the strength she had put into the lift. Not even remembering the monsters that lived in there, Stormie rushed over to the closet and pulled open the door. It wasn't all that big of a closet; it was very simple too. There were her clothing hanging on the racks and her toys on the floor. After shoving the toys out of the way, there was plenty of room for the haunter to rest. But she had to give it something to lie on too! She pulled a few of the clothes off the hangers and spread them on the ground. Now it was ready for the haunter. Stormie gently placed the pokemon on the pileup of clothes.

The haunter let out a slight groan but didn't respond much more after that. Stormie frowned at the poor thing. Rest would do it well. "You stay here. I'll check on you tomorrow morning. Sleep tight." With that, she shut the door.

Morning came slower than Stormie wanted it to come. She waited patiently in her bed all night, unable to get much rest at all. Right when she saw the sun come up over the trees, she jumped out of bed and swung open the closet door. Her eyes widened in shock. The haunter wasn't there!

"Hey, where'd you go?" Stormie peeked under the clothing pile but it wasn't there. She looked under her bed and it wasn't there either. Did it run away after it woke up? Stormie let out a disappointed sigh. It probably did. Maybe she wasn't taking care of it right. Maybe leaving it in a cramped closet didn't make it happy with her. She couldn't do anything right, could she?

Suddenly she felt a tapping on her right shoulder. She jumped and let out a yelp; she was sure she was the only one in her room. When she swung around she was met face-to-face with a large, toothy grin. In surprise, Stormie stumbled back and fell on her bottom. This caused the haunter to cackle, amused with her clumsiness.

"Hey, it's you! You didn't run away!" Rather than getting upset at the haunter, Stormie had a large grin across her face. She was happy to see it.

The haunter shook its head and then patted Stormie's head. It seemed grateful for what Stormie had done. The wounds on the haunter had thankfully stopped bleeding and it looked like it was doing alright.

"So, what's your name?" Stormie asked, looking up at the haunter with a smile. "My name's Stormie!"

"Haunt haunt," the pokemon replied.

"Haunt-Haunt?" Stormie laughed. "That's a funny name!"

The haunter's grin turned into a frown. It shook its head at her. "Haunt haunt!" it said more strongly.

"That's what I said! Haunt-Haunt!"

The haunter let out a sigh and shook its head once more. It looked around. Spotting a good place on the wall, the haunter began to carve something into it. Stormie watched curiously as the haunter worked away at the wall. After finishing, the haunter backed up for Stormie to see and pointed at it. "Haunt haunt."

Stormie squinted at the sloppy letters on the wall, trying to read them. "A...H...R...I...M...A...N..? Ahriman?"

Ahriman nodded vigorously with its grin back in place.

Stormie burst out laughing. "That's a silly name!"

Ahriman looked offended. "Haunt!"

"Since you have 'man' in your name, does that make you a boy?" Stormie asked.

Ahriman nodded. Arceus forbid he be called a girl.

"Okay. But I'm going to call you Ahri! Ahriman sounds so scary like you're all serious business. I don't think that fits you." Stormie watched as a distracted Ahriman swatted at a dust bunny before delivering the final blow with a clap of his claws. The haunter contently grinned, pleased with his accomplishment.

* * *

When there was no one on the streets, Stormie's shadow rose from the ground. It formed into a haunter. Stormie's real shadow laid on the dirt path, looking like any other normal shadow. Ahriman floated behind Stormie loyally, following the girl as she headed back home. The road was relatively clear of people, it was a small town after all, so Ahriman was able to stick by Stormie's side most of the way. Right when someone came into view Ahriman would jump back down into Stormie's shadow until they would pass. With his disappearance into the shadows came a rather chilling and unwelcoming atmosphere. The temperature always seemed to drop around the shadow he was hiding in. When he rose from the shadows the bad aura would disappear.

Once Stormie entered her home, Ahriman once again sunk into her shadow.

"Welcome home, dear. Dinner should be ready in a second!" Sharon called from the kitchen.

Stormie set herself down at the kitchen table, looking a little impatient. In a minute Sharon came into the room holding two plates of food. She placed one down in front of her daughter and sat down with the other plate. Stormie stared at her food hesitantly. Noticing Sharon's watchful gaze, Stormie grabbed her fork and dug in. Sharon gave a nod of approval before eating from her own plate. Dinner was awfully silent except for the occasional comment from Sharon but Stormie was never much into having a conversation with her these days.

When Stormie had finished about half of her plate she looked up at Sharon. "Can I eat the rest of this in my room?"

Sharon sighed and gave a nod of her head. It was what Stormie did every time they ate together. Sharon feared that her daughter might be trying to diet, or in the worse case scenario: she was anorexic. Sharon had tried to bring up her concerns but Stormie would flat out deny it and refuse to talk about it further.

Stormie took her plate and headed up to her room without another word, leaving her mother alone at the dinner table. Right when Stormie shut the door to her room Ahriman popped up from her shadow, eyeing the food hungrily. "Here you go, Ahri," Stormie smiled, handing the plate to the haunter.

"Thank you, Stormie~" Ahriman thanked before taking the plate and wolfing down the contents into his mouth. In a matter of a second the entire plate was clean. Ahriman let out a content sigh and handed the empty plate back to Stormie.

"You're welcome." Even though she couldn't understand the words coming out of his mouth, Stormie could understand what he said. She placed the plate down on her desk before laying down on her bed. She glanced across the room to the wall on the other side. The place where Ahriman had carved his name in the wall was now covered up with wallpaper after Sharon discovered it and questioned her about it. Stormie had made up a bad excuse; Sharon could tell that she was lying but dropped the subject. "Tomorrow let's go to the stream. It's been awhile since we've gone there."

"The magikarps and I are best friends!" Ahriman exclaimed happily, clasping his hands together.

Stormie grinned at his enthusiasm. "Thought you would want to go. It's settled then."

* * *

Back downstairs, Sharon was on the phone. She had dialed the number of her best friend from high school whom she always went to for advice. Sherri could always help Sharon with these sorts of things. After the phone rung a few times on the other side she heard her friend pick up. "Hello, Sherri. It's Sharon."

"—It's been awhile. I have something I need to talk to you about. It's about Stormie. I need your advice about her..."

"—Yes, I'm still worried about all of those things. It's just that ever since she was about eight she hasn't been normal like the other kids her age—"

"—No, I don't mean I want her to fit in, just that I want her to have friends. She spends all day either locked up in her room or otherwise she's outside in the woods doing who knows what."

"—Yes, I understand she's a teenager and all. But is it normal for girls her age to be talking to themselves in their room?"

"—An imaginary friend? _At this age?_"

"—What? I don't know. I can't make out what she says through the door."

"—Sherri. I really think something odd is going on around here. Did you know that a few winters ago Stormie got really sick because her room was so freezing all the time? I thought that the heater was broken but after I did some research I discovered that the insulation around the inside of her room was torn to shreds!"

"—I don't know how that happened! They were no holes in the walls or anything. Most of it just disappeared! There wasn't even any rodents. I had her sleep in the living room couch that winter until spring so I could get her entire room re-insulated. And you know what else? Around the time her strange behavior began I found a carving of the name 'Ahriman' on the wall of her room. There was nothing in her room that she could have done that with and it was simply too high up for her to reach. Did you know that Ahriman is the name for the god of darkness?"

"—It's not crazy talk, Sherri. You of all people should understand why I don't trust them. I bet one of them has been torturing her all these years; making her act this way. She looks so sick and tired all the time too; it's obviously not a benevolent spirit!"

Sharon combed her fingers through her short-cropped blue hair. "—Just please give me a suggestion or something, _please._ I want her to be able to talk to me about these things and tell me what's wrong; to tell me what has been harassing her all these years. Usually these evil beings can be cast away with positive emotions. Because Stormie always seems to be so down all the time I can understand why one of them would be hanging around her."

"—Become…a _trainer?_ You really think that will make her happy?"

"—Well, okay. I think you've given me enough good reasons. I'll sign her up tomorrow. I know that these beings have to be defeated by the one being harassed by it. I can only help her in limited ways myself unfortunately. This is a perfect way for her to cheer up so she can rid herself of it. Thanks, Sherri. You've been a lot of help. Goodbye."

For once in the past seven years, Sharon seemed hopeful.

* * *

Out of curiosity of what the readers think and to get feedback, every chapter I think I'll ask a question for you to answer. Hopefully it'll be a good way to encourage my readers to review!

**Chapter 1 question:** What do you think happened to Ahriman that caused him to get so wounded?

As we meet more characters along the story, I'll post pictures of them up on my profile so you can get a better idea of what they look like. I have Stormie up and ready for you guys there. I have a DeviantART if any of you are interested in checking out my other artwork.


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